Trouble logging in?If you can't remember your password or are having trouble logging in, you will have to reset your password. If you have trouble resetting your password (for example, if you lost access to the original email address), please do not start posting with a new account, as this is against the forum rules. If you create a temporary account, please contact us right away via Forum Support, and send us any information you can about your original account, such as the account name and any email address that may have been associated with it.

----------------------------------------
The afterlife is a curious thing, being so warped and twisted into our view. It wasn't always as such, before the first man arrived. He started the wave, the rolling stone that brought into light a new era of rule. While we waited in wonder of what truly came after us, He changed the answer every day.
The rolling stone is nearing the bottom. Someone waiting below to reset the rock atop the hill again.

Spoiler for Prelude Chapter:

The single red word flashed on and off soundlessly. "Ready" it displayed. The word sat next to a plethora of seemingly random buttons, knobs, and keys. A man looked at it through tinted glasses without an expression. Looking up he found himself staring through glass panels at an enormous room filled with cables, flashing lights, and roaring turbines. In the center resided a most strange thing. It looked like a steel coffin, inches thick with a metallic silver material. A leather seat was situated within it, big enough for a person to lay completely straight. Hundreds of workers and scientist scurried in the thundering room checking various plugs, wires, and bolts, performing last minute operations before the program would be started. The scientist in front of the console sniffed fiercely; the whole area was cold. Somewhere someone used the intercom, "All employees please exit the testing room, escorting officials be ready to bring in the test subject." It stated in a fuzzy voice. The man turned away from the glass panels and proceeded to the door; someone was knocking. He opened the door to find two men standing with a small girl between them.

They carried walkie-talkies in their hands and a pistol in their pockets. Nothing troublesome ever occurred except for some loose wiring and a sick employee, but you could never be too careful. Between them, the girl stood head slightly down, averting her eyes from others. The scientist looked down at her and back up at the officials. One of them sipped some smoking coffee and gave a hearty "ahem" before talking.

"She's all ready, bout' to send her in." He had a thick Texan accent, but seeing as how the lab was in the middle of a Texan prairie, it wasn't too surprising. The scientist nodded without a word and turned away. The officials gently patted the girl on the back and walked her away. They closed the door behind them. The scientist returned to the glass windows and again viewed the large piece of equipment below him. Still the light flashed. He reached for a plastic hinged casing that held two buttons: one green and one blue. He lifted the casing and pushed quickly and intensely onto the blue button. He then closed the case and looked back up to the huge machinery behind the glass.

After a few seconds a large reverberating boom sounded throughout the lab. The glass shook in front of him and a deafening screech could be heard behind the walls. It slowly died down and became a calm hum. A door in the large room opened and the two officials escorted the small girl towards the metal chair. For a few months, the scientists in this facility searched America for someone that fit the necessary requirements to be used in this experiment. They needed to be calm, quiet, and meek, so as to obey orders without question. The team found this girl at an orphanage, giving up hope on others since no one would directly give their child up to experiments. She was around the age of twelve. She had short blond hair and stood at around five feet tall. She almost never spoke, and didn't seem to resist any commands. The team told her it was for a good cause, for the future. The test put the subject into what seemed like a coma.

A peaceful slumber was imposed upon them, almost to a point were thought was lacking. Once the subject was in this "peaceful" state, they examined the inner workings of the brain in response to certain stimuli as sound, smell, and touch. It sounded like something that could be done in any laboratory. The state of mind required needed a tremendous amount of preparations. The place needed to be soundless, a vacuum, and devoid of touch, so that the senses they imposed were the only ones sensed. All they told her was that they would examine her thoughts while she slept. The girl nodded to the officials as they showed her how to lie within the chamber. She wore a sort of gas mask and was clad in a jumpsuit.

He grabbed his own coffee mug and sipped quickly before reaching again for the casing. The girl meekly stepped onto the black seat and laid back completely straight. The scientist pushed the green button after the officials exited the room. Just as he did, he was overcome by a tremendous sneeze. He looked at his uniform; it was dotted with specks of blood. He merely wiped it off onto his coat and returned his gaze to the machine. Doors around the chair closed shutting the girls face away, and another boom sounded. He looked on expressionlessly taking down a gulp of coffee. The intercom came on again,

The scientist gave a satisfying breath as he walked out of the room. The ready light changed into a green "executing" sign. For minutes he walked down the blank, white halls of the lab in silence. The entire area was devoid of sound save his own footsteps and beating heart. He was headed to the monitoring station were everyone important had gathered. There they would check on the girl's status, test certain senses, and pick up on conversations unrelated to the task at hand. The scientist came upon a white door and entered inside the room. Many individual computers lie in front of sitting scientist busily typing on their keyboards. The man heard a shout from across the room.

"Hey Walter! Come over here!" shouted Raj. Raj was a thin tall Indian man without a complimentary Indian accent. He was in his thirties, and had been in neurology for a few years. He's been very eccentric about the project since he joined.

"Come, come look quick" he said while beckoning with his hand. Walter walked slowly weaving this way and that through the desks and chairs filling the room. Raj hunched over another scientist, Jennifer, working at the monitor.

"Look at this," Raj pointed at a scan of the girls brain on the monitor. Various fluctuations in colors of red, blue, and green popped in and out of existence on the screen.

"We've never seen this kind of activity in a single person before. It is very odd, but soon we will understand it!" Raj said gleefully. Walter nodded in agreement. For some seconds Walter continued to look at the colorful picture. In an instant, the colors vanished. Walter jerked his head up in surprise to the sudden change in pattern.

"See look what I mean!" Raj tapped the top of the monitor and smiled. Another man stood up in his seat instantaneously and waved his arms around and shouted,

"I'm not getting any pulse signals on the subject!" Immediately the room burst into a flurry of movement and furious clicking and yelling. Walter looked on in confusion as the people rushed here and there shouting commands and questions.

"What's the status on the breathing?"

"Get the blood tests!"

"Why is her kidney failing?"

And then, a scream. Not a scream that came from any one person in the room. A bloodcurdling shriek that Walter had not heard before. It pierced the foot-thick walls and lingered for some seconds. The room went silent, as scientists looked up at the ceiling without a sound. Raj turned his head to Walter and both of them met each others eyes. Raj's face held a half-glare of misunderstanding and worry. Then the lights turned off. Computers, lamps, everything save about four flashlights held in the hands of some safety officers who opened the door of the room, shining their glowing lights into the faces of the inhabitants.

"Are all of you alright?" they asked. Murmurs of yes and occasional nods could be seen in the darkness. Jennifer quietly stated

"Take us back to the testing room." An officer gave an okay and led her and the others who followed. Raj beckoned for Walter to follow along. Walter looked around the darkness and jogged over to Raj, bumping into invisible desks and chairs. As they continued down the once-traveled hall, the lights flickered back on. Without questioning or a word, the two officers that led them shut off their flashlights and continued on. They came to a door next to a stairwell. I was just here, thought Walter. But I don't need to be here right now.

This isn't supposed to happen. We weren't using too much power. It's just a thought examination!

He followed the others down the stairs and into the enormous room that held the machinery. Jennifer ran over to the steel coffin that held the girl. She commanded one of the scientists to go back up and push the blue open button. The scientist turned tail and ran back up the stairs. Walter looked up and behind him to see the scientist looking at him through those same glass windows he peered through earlier. Walter turned back as he heard a noise like steam escaping a pipe to see the coffin doors opening. Slowly they pulled sideways to reveal the girl.

She lay there, devoid of color, and eyes rolled back. A noise of awe and disgust rippled throughout the audience. Streams of blood ran from the little girl's mouth. Jennifer covered her mouth and gave a quiet "my god" before reaching forward to carry the girl off of the seat. Jennifer cradled her and lied her down on the floor softly. She pressed her head to the girl's chest and prodded her neck with her fingers, checking for any sign of a pulse. The pale, limp body lay on its back, and the girl's dead blank face looked past Walter.

Walter frowned at the loss. She didn't deserve this he thought. This wasn't supposed to happen. He store for minutes until he was overcome with fear. He realized only after his deathly trance with the dead face that the eyes had rolled back into place, pupils tightened to small black specks. And the face was, changed. A demented smile took hold over the once pretty face. Walter raised an eyebrow. Walter only heard Jennifer's commanding voice as a soft murmur.

He stood, overcome with this twisted smile. He sweat and shivered. No one else seemed to notice. It only store at him. A gunshot sounded in the room. Walter shook his head from the deathly gaze and looked up to see one of the officials holding a gun in his hands. Walter followed the officials aim to Jennifer, who was sprawled across the floor. Blood pooled around her head. Women screamed, men shouted and cursed. The other official ran to the engaged cop and reached for his arms yelling angrily.

"What the hell are you doing?" he screamed. "Put that thing down officer!" The cop reached for the murderer only to be grabbed by the arm and flung at a blistering speed across the room into a clump of huge cables. One snapped and sent sparks flying. And in a second the cop pulled the trigger seven more times into the skulls of the helpless scientists, only to finish with his own suicide.

All the time Walter and the others ran around screaming, ducking and running. Walter ran for the door just in time to see several surviving scientists wrenching the door in a futile attempt; it was locked. Walter turned back to the open room, scattered with the dead employees. He again met his eyes with the face, that demented hideous face.

Only now the once dead girl sat up on her bottom, sitting like any living person would do. Walter yet again fell into the horrible trance. All around him the remaining scientists began to scream and claw at their hair in pain, but he took no notice. He remained standing while everyone else twitched and convulsed in absolute pain. The face continued to stare at him for hours until he remained the only living body in the room. The girl rose to her feet, keeping her eyes locked with Walters. Her horrendous smile only grew wider as it gleefully said,

"Hi, Walter."

A story I worked on awhile ago, stopping for whatever reason. I'd like some constructive criticism please. If this one goes well enough (doesn't need too much changes) I'll post the first chapter. If not... Well...

There are some necessary changes I already know about myself, but have yet to fix. Nevertheless, point any and all mistakes in grammar, spelling, form, and plot I need.